Copenhagen Municipality,s Health Profile 2000
Brief summary and reading guide
Copenhagen
Municipality’s Health Profile 2000 is the third health profile to be
implemented in Copenhagen. The Health Profiles have been previously implemented
with data collected in 1991 and 1995. The data collection for this study took
place in 1999. As in the 1991 study, three different questionnaires were
administered: one to 18-66 year olds with children living at home (18-66 year
olds with children), one to 18-66 year olds without children at home (18-66
year olds without children) and another to individuals 67 years of age and
older (67+ year olds). A large number of the questions are used in all three
questionnaires. These include those on illness, health, contact with the health
care system, use of medication, housing, diet, physical activity, smoking,
alcohol intake and school education. Some questions are asked only of 18-66
year olds with children living at home. These include questions on children’s
television viewing, children’s employment, children’s allergies and illness
together with childhood vaccinations. Other questions are asked only of adults
between 18-66 years of age. These include allergy and work-related questions.
Finally, there are special questions asked of persons 67+ years of age
regarding the following: use of physical aids, assistance from a home helper
and/or visiting nurse, participation in social activities together with the
receipt of preventive home health visits.
The purpose of the study has been to describe the health and lifestyle
of the residents of Copenhagen, as well as to analyse the development in their
health and lifestyle. Furthermore, the purpose was also to feed into the dialog
with residents on health and lifestyle, together with establishing a baseline
for a later evaluation of Copenhagen Municipality’s public health plan.
The questionnaires were developed so as to compare with Copenhagen
Municipality’s Health Profiles from 1991 and 1995 and the National Institute of
Public Health’s National Health Interview Survey from 1994 and 2000.
Three different random samples were drawn from the population
register: elderly persons aged 67 years
and older, 18-66 year olds with children and 18-66 year olds without children.
The intention was to select equal numbers within each of the sub-samples from
each of Copenhagen’s 15 city districts. Information from the participants was
received through self-administrated questionnaires. We used two reminders.
17,865 participated in the survey, which gave a participation rate of 50%.
In the following, the main results of the health survey are presented.
Social affiliation, network and housing
Nearly one-fourth (23.2%) feel strongly affiliated to the neighbourhood
in which they live and just over half (52.8%) are satisfied with their housing.
Three out of five (59.1%) experience perceived exposures in their
accommodation, while 7% report that they are often alone, although they do not
wish to be.
Health and illness
Almost three-fourths (74.3%) rate their own health as good or really
good. Nearly three-fourths (73.1%) feel well enough to do what they want to do,
while 13.9% state that they often feel stressed. One-third of adults 18+ year
olds (33.8%) state that they suffer from a long-standing illness or condition,
with almost a tenth (8.4%) having had to change work due to illness and another
one-tenth (9.6%) having had to stop working altogether. Nearly one-fifth
(18.9%) claim activity restrictions due to illness and one-tenth have long
standing activity restrictions. Among adults aged 18-66 years, 42.3% report
allergic reactions or hypersensitivity to certain substances.
18.6% have had mental health problems within the past 14 days. 17.1% of
18-66 year olds have used sick leave due to illness within the past 14 days.
Four-fifths (81.9%) state that they can depend on help should they become ill.
Contact with the health care system and use of medication
As a whole, 41.7% have contacted their own general practitioner within
the past three months. Just over half (52.3%) have contacted any physician
within the same period. 35.2% have contacted a dentist within the past three
months, while half (50.3%) have consulted other health practitioners (not
physicians) within the same period.
Two out of five (40.5%) have used pain relievers within the past 14
days, while two-thirds (65.5%) have used medication, of any type, within the same
time period.
Lifestyle
Two-thirds (66.8%) rate their own actions as very important in
maintaining good health. Nearly one-fourth (22.9%) does nothing special to
maintain or improve their health.
22.7% spend four hours or more weekly of leisure time engaged in
vigorous/moderate physical activity. A third (33.1%) are overweight (BMI >
25). Over one-seventh (14.7%) exceeds the Danish National Board of Health’s recommended weekly limit of alcohol, while
approximately every tenth resident (11.5%) report problematic alcohol intake.
30.1% smoke daily and one-fourth (24.3%) of smokers said they plan to quit
smoking within the next 6 months. 64.4% of all adults between the ages of 18
and 66 years are exposed to passive smoking either at home or at the work place.
Working environment
Slightly more than one-tenth (10.8%) of working residents report that
they are engaged in monotonous work. Nearly one-third (31.9%) always or often
have difficulty managing their work tasks on time. 14.1% of working residents
report that the speed or pressure at work is far too high, while 13.1% state
that they seldom or never employ their skills at work. An eighth (12.6%) report
no or very little influence over the planning of their work.
Children’s health
Nearly two-thirds (59.8%) of children have been breast-fed longer than 6
months. 72.1% of parents are satisfied with their child’s institution. Nearly
one-fourth (23.4%) of children have been sick within the last 14 days. Over
three-fourths of Copenhagen’s children (77.5%) have received the MMR vaccine.
Four out of five children (79.8%) have been immunised against pertussis (P) and
84.7% of children against diphtheria, tetanus and polio (DTPol).
Health among the elderly
80.7% of elderly use physical aids (e.g. glasses, hearing aid, cane,
wheelchair etc.). Almost one-third (28.5%) receives assistance at home and
16.6% receive services from a visiting nurse. Every fifth 75+ year old (20.2%)
states that they would accept preventive home health visits. 26.5% of 67+ year
olds participate monthly in social activities, while 5.4% would like to receive
help in meeting other elderly persons.
A specific report concerning the elderly has been developed.
Variation between city district and between groups with different school education levels
City District
Generally the city districts differ from one another in that some have a
better health and lifestyle. This is particularly true in Indre By, Indre
Østerbro, Vanløse and Brønshøj-Husum.
On the other hand, there are a number of city districts that have a poorer health and lifestyle than the average resident in Copenhagen. These districts include Ydre Nørrebro, Vesterbro, Kongens Enghave, Sundby Syd and Sundby Nord.
School education
Overall, the study shows that residents with 12 years of school
education are healthier and have a healthier lifestyle, than persons with 10
years of schooling. The only exception is with regard to use of alcohol.
Correspondingly, residents with less than 10 years of school education
are in poorer health and have an unhealthier lifestyle than persons with 10
years of schooling.
The report
begins with the background and purposes of the study (chapter 2), followed by
materials and methods (chapter 3), results (chapter 4) and marginal
distributions. The results section includes a
description of the study population, including housing conditions and
affiliation to one’s neighbourhood. Thereafter, follows a section on health and
illness, contact with the health care system and use of medication, lifestyle
and working conditions. Following this is a section devoted to children and the
elderly. The report concludes with a collective description of differences
among city districts and groups with varying school education levels (appendix
2).